Planning inspector overrules planning permission refusal on climate change grounds

The Planning Inspector has overruled Bristol City Council's decision to refuse planning permission for a new biofuel production plant, ruling that the council was not able to take the effect on climate change into consideration when assessing planning applications.

The council had refused planning permission for the plant – a £70m project proposed to be built at Avonmouth – on the grounds that its use of palm oil to generate power would lead to further deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia and further contribute to climate change.

At the hearing, the council told the planning inspector that government policy on climate change and sustainable energy meant that the council was entitled to take into the environmental impact of the plant. However, the prospective developer of the plant, W4B Ltd, argued that the source of fuel could only be regulated by Ofgen and not by planning laws.

The inspector, Trevor Cookson, agreed that the council could only consider the effect that  the plant's fuel source may have at a local level and could not take into account the global impact of the fuel source when considering planning permission.

The inspector also rejected the council's request [made before the decision] that the process be adjourned to allow the council to appeal the decision to the High Court. However, this was refused and the application will now proceed to a public inquiry.

The developers say that the plant would use palm oil from sustainable sources as a temporary measure until oil from jatropha – a shrub farmed on land that is not currently cultivated - was available in sufficient quantities.

The planning application for the power station was refused by Bristol City Council in February this year. Councillors voted six in favour, two against and one abstention on a motion to refuse permission.